China welcomes US- India ties
Trump meets Modi amid increased trade friction
Chinese experts said that China welcomes the development of relations between India and the US, as the leaders from the two countries met on Monday, saying relations have “never been better.”
US President Donald Trump on Monday held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, eyeing a robust partnership despite their growing trade friction, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The two leaders hailed strong bilateral ties and pledged to enhance cooperation in areas such as trade and anti- terrorism.
“After our meetings today, I believe that the relationship between India and the United States has never been stronger, has never been better,” Trump said in a televised remark with Modi at the White House Rose Garden, Xinhua reported.
“My visit and our talks today mark a very important page in the history of the collaboration and cooperation between our two nations,” Modi said.
“Even though US- Indian relations have been improving in the past decade, Trump’s attitude towards India had been unclear before this meeting, and he has given it a positive spin,” Ni Feng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
However, Modi’s visit comes amid increased trade friction between the two countries since Trump became president, Xinhua reported.
Unlike his predecessor Barack Obama, who had many ideas on using India to restrain China, Trump considers India a big power that requires his attention, but not as much as China and Russia, Ni noted.
“Though India and the US are trade partners, cooperation between them is never balanced,” Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and the ViceDirector and Secretary- General of China’s Central and South Asia Security Council, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Last year, US trade with India reached $ 114.8 billion, with the US trade deficit at $ 30.8 billion, according to US official figures, Xinhua reported.
“Sino- US trade is far superior, so Trump, being a practical businessman, considers China issues more important,” Hu noted.
Meanwhile, Trump said that the largest ever joint navy drill among the US, India and Japan will be staged next month in the Indian Ocean.
“However, Trump has been showing less interest in maintaining its alliance in the area. So, although Japan and India remain very active, the future of the alliance is unclear or worse,” Hu said. “All in all, China, as India’s neighbor, is always happy to see better US- India relations, because they could also benefit China,” Hu added.